Burden of the Weight
by freezingpizza14
Summary: Jason and the Greeks arrive at camp to find that Percy was kidnapped. Can Grover, Annabeth, Reyna and Leo save him on time?


***Well um, I hope you like this, since people said that I should post it. It's more like The Son of Neptune, but . . . ya know. Instead of just Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Jason going, all the Greeks go. I wrote this a year ago, so it's extremely cheezy! (But aren't they all? lol) Review please, no flames, etc. This is a one-shot. I will try to update the online chat thing later today since we get out of school early. Sorry about the horrid title. Couldn't think of anything better at the time. Ttfn!***

(Chapter 1)

Annabeth was sleeping in a bed below deck of the _Argo II_ to get a good rest before they arrived at the Roman camp.

When she fell asleep, however, she dreamed of Percy. And it was a horrible nightmare.

"Annabeth? You have to leave! Get out of here, quick!" A voice called in the darkness.

Annabeth's dream-self didn't listen. "Percy?"

"Annabeth, please. You have to listen to me," Percy begged. "Don't come here. Forget about me. Go to camp, get help from Lupa."

Annabeth kept stepping forward, trying to find him. "Why? We are on our way to you. Have the Romans hurt you?" Annabeth asked angrily.

If they hurt him and locked him up somewhere . . .

Annabeth didn't finish the thought. She actually didn't know what she'd do.

"Annabeth, he's coming back. Please, leave."

"No! Not without you!" She said stubbornly.

"You can't help me! I'm trapped," he said, and Annabeth suddenly noticed how strained his voice was, like it was hard for him to talk.

"What's wrong? What have they done to you?"

Then Annabeth's searching hand felt a face. She reached out more and felt a chest and a torso.

"Percy?" Annabeth whispered.

"Right here," Percy whispered, right in front of her. The chest under her hand was moving quickly, gasping for air. She felt around for his lips, but before she could kiss him, a light suddenly blinded her, like a switch suddenly being turned on, and Annabeth saw his face clearly. It was strained and pale, almost gray, and seemed sunkin, almost skeleton-like. There were dark shadows under his eyes. The difference she noticed most of all, though, was the gray streaks in his hair, lots of them, making half his hair black and half gray.

Annabeth staggered back and gasped. "Wha-what . . .?"

Suddenly a cold laugh boomed through the mountain. "Yes, little hero. Your boyfriend is now once again holding my burden. And you can come join him, for soon the pressure will be too much, and he will die."

Annabeth stepped back more. "N-no. It can't be. You were trapped. We saw you. H-how . . .?"

Once again the cold laughter boomed the mountain, and he came out of the darkness, showing his face . . .

Annabeth woke up in a cold sweat. Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her cheeks. He may not be at the Roman camp at all, but she was sure who's face that was in her dream, with the cold laughter.

"We're almost there!" Jason said from the front of the boat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Everyone ran to the front (except for Chiron, who trotted). Annabeth peered down. "Where? I don't see it."

"You can't see the camp?" Jason asked. Then he noticed Annabeth wipe her damp cheek, but he pretended not to notice.

"No," she said.

"Maybe only Jason can see it because he's Roman," Piper suggested.

"Maybe . . ." Annabeth still seemed lost in thought.

The boat drifted towards the shore. On the sand, Roman campers that had seen the boat were pointing weapons at them. And, beside them, a giant wolf stood calmly waiting.

"Lupa," Jason said, recognizing her.

"This is it," Grover said exitedly, "Were finally going to find Percy and get help from the Romans. Though I'm not too anxious about meeting them, though . . ."

Annabeth shifted uncomfortably.

They gently stopped on the sand, and everyone climbed down the ramp.

They stood, waiting, and Jason saw Annabeth peer around at the campers that had joined Lupa on the sand, looking for her boyfriend.

She stepped forward nervously, and the Romans immediately pointed their weapons at her.

"Peace, campers!" Lupa barked. The Romans lowered their weapons, but still pointed them at them.

She walked until she was five feet of Annabeth. "Speak, girl. Who are you?"

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," Annabeth said.

Lupa nodded. Chiron walked to Annabeth's side and bowed to Lupa, which was pretty weird to Jason, since he had a horse's body.

"Lupa. It has been long since we have spoken," Chiron said.

"It has. Last time I recall, we were on Olympus."

"Please, um, Lupa, can you tell me if a guy named Percy Jackson is or had been here?" Annabeth asked.

Lupa looked at her.

"Yes. Two weeks ago. We were invaded by monsters, and he was in battle with the others, but he was taken. We searched for him, but he just . . . dissapeared. So no, he is not here."

Annabeth put her head in her hands and quietly cried.

"I knew it," she whispered. "My dream was right. He does have him. And . . . he's dying! Oh, Chiron we have to help him! The weight, it's killing him! We have to go!" Annabeth said urgently.

"Annabeth, slow down, child. Tell me the dream," Chiron said, holding her arm to calm her down. Grover stood at her side and patted her shoulder.

Annabeth impatiently told them about her dream, leaving out the part about Percy. When she finished, Grover and Chiron were white-faced.

"But-how did he get free again?" Grover asked nervously.

"I'm not 100-percent sure, but I am pretty sure the monsters kidnapped Percy from here, took him there and-"

"But, why Chiron? Why kidnap Percy? And why would monsters listen to _him_ when he was trapped and couldn't do anything?" Annabeth asked, cutting Chiron off.

"The same way he got free last time. Promising things he wouldn't keep," Chiron said simply.

"Well, I know were he is now. I have to go and save him. When I was in danger, he never gave up on me. Now I'm not going to give up on him," Annabeth said, and turned to head back to the boat.

"Hold on! I want to go. He's my best friend, too, and I don't want you to go alone," Grover said.

Annabeth smiled. "Thanks, Grover."

"Now, hold on, you two. I'm not about to just let you leave. At least let two more accompany you," Chiron said. "We'll pick who's going after you talk to Rachel, Annabeth."

Rachel walked to the front. Then her body twitched, and her eyes glowed green. Her head snapped back, and in the oracle's voice came:

_Four shall go West, to put things right,_

_The enemies together, the two sides unite._

_To not save who was stolen, and see a safe return,_

_the evil one will rise, the whole world will burn._

_To save the trapped hero, one must surpass who has escaped,_

_or the hero will fall, and death shall be his fate._

Her head snapped foward again. She rubbed her temple. "What happened?"

"You made the quest final," Chiron said. He turned towards Annabeth. "It is official. Who will you choose to go, my dear?"

"Grover, Leo and-"

"Wait! I want to go," came a voice. A blond girl around fifteen with deep blue eyes stepped forward.

"Reyna! You are not going anywere," Lupa snapped.

"No, wait," Annabeth said. "We need a Roman for this journey,"

Lupa looked at Reyna. "You want to go with them?"

Reyna shrugged. "Not really. But when the oracle girl said 'enemies unite', I knew we would have to work together. So I want to go."

Rachel scoffed. "Oracle girl?"

Annabeth put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy."

"Hold on-I don't like Leo going," Jason said.

Chiron looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because. Rachel said, the whole world will _burn_. Maybe he'll try to convince Leo to join him or something," he said.

Leo scoffed. "Like I'd let a minion of that freak earth lady convince me to do anything."

"Guys! We have to go, now!" Annabeth rushed.

"Now, hold on. We need time to prepare. We've spent a week on the ship coming here. We can set you off in the morning," Chiron said.

Annabeth's shoulders sagged. "Fine."

"Wait a moment," Lupa said. "And who said I would let you in our camp?"

Chiron sighed. "You know full and well why, Lupa. You need us, and we need you. Without us working together, Gaea will fully rise and take down the gods. And that would be bad. For both of our camps."

Lupa's head lowered. "Fine. Your campers can stay with their sibilings here."

"Hold on," Rachel said, "I'm confused, here. If Percy isn't here, then were in Hades is he?"

Annabeth answered without looking at her. "He's being held hostage by Atlas."

(Chapter 2)

Annabeth knew she wasn't going to fall asleep, so she got on her lab top. She knew she wasn't going to fall asleep because first, she finally knew where Percy was, two because it was uncomfortable being here, and three because all of the Roman campers in the Minerva cabin kept glancing at her.

Annabeth sighed. "If you don't want us here, then say it to my face. It's rude to gossip."

"We weren't . . . we were just wondering . . . is that, you know, Daedalus's lab top?" one asked.

"Yes. He gave it to me before he died," Annabeth said without looking up.

"Oh, wow. You knew him?"

Annabeth nodded and shut the computer. "I had had a quest a few years ago, and a lot of things happened. A lot of things changed. People died. You have no idea what it was like."

They nodded like they believe it. "Is it true that Percy is your boyfriend?" A girl asked.

"Yep," Annabeth answered, her heart hammering. "Why?"

"Because, well, he's Neptune's son. And Minerva and Neptune hate each other. So I was just wondering how-"

"How we got together?" Annabeth finished. The girl nodded.

"It took a while. We were best friends for five years. Then on his sixteenth birthday we started going out."

The girl and everyone who was listening widened their eyes.

"But-but wouldn't that be betraying your own mother?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. I'm tired. Goodnight," Annabeth lied.

They left her alone, and the lights went out.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Around midnight, Annabeth finally fell asleep. But it didn't come without another dream.

This time, she was already crouched in front of Percy. If possible, he looked even worse. His skin looked like it was sagging a little, and he was very pale. The shadows under his eyes and how much he was sweating from the weight on his shoulders made him look like he was very very sick. Almost all of the black was gone from his hair, replaced with gray.

"Oh, what has he done to you?" she whispered, taking his waxen face in her hands and lifting it up. His eyes looked like they weren't seeing anything. He was blind from the pain. He couldn't even talk anymore.

Annabeth started to cry. She hated seeing him like this, hated it very much. He looked . . . dead. Even Nico looked more alive then he does now.

A cold laugh came from right behind her. She spun around to see Atlas smirking.

"I'm suprised he even lasted a week, let alone two," he said. "But it won't matter. Two more days, and he'll be dead. So hurry, girl, so you can take his place. But . . . take your time. I do want to see him dead."

Percy made a small noise at the back of his throat, trying to tell her to stay away, but he couldn't open his mouth without shouting in pain.

"I'll come," Annabeth said. "I'll take his place if you promise to let him go, alive."

"I can't do that. I promised he'd be dead, and thats one promise I'll keep," Atlas said.

Percy managed to whisper, "Please . . . stay . . . away."

Annabeth spun around again and took his pale face in her hands. "I'm coming for you. Just hang on a little bit longer." She managed to get a peck on his lips before she woke up, sweating.

When the sun started to rise, Annabeth got up quietly and started to pack her things.

She strolled outside to find Chiron, Leo, Reyna and Grover waiting for her. Annabeth also noticed Reyna's eyes were puffy and red.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked.

Reyna sniffed. "N-no. Jason broke up with me. Is it because of that other girl, Piper?"

"Well, they kind of have liked each other for a while now," Leo said.

Reyna nodded. "Yeah. I can understand that. She's very pretty."

Chiron shifted hooves. "Alright heroes. Ready to set off, then?"

They nodded. Reyna looked around. "Where's Lupa?"

"She was busy and couldn't make it. But do not worry, I'm sure you'll do fine." But when Chiron said that he looked extremely worried.

Grover suddenly said, "wait a second. Something doesn't seem right. What exactly is Atlas trying to do?"

"Doesn't matter what Atlas is trying to do. We have to stop him and rescue Percy," Reyna said.

Everyone looked at her, and she shrugged. "What? Percy was my friend, too. He did make actual friends, being here for a whole year, you know."

"Come on! Stop chatting and lets go!" Annabeth snapped, already climbing aboard the boat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2 days later)

"Hurry! Gods, Reyna, drive faster!" Annabeth said sharply. They were going up the mountain that led to Atlas, but Reyna was having trouble.

"I can't! The car is slowing down!" Reyna said, panicked.

"Gaea! She's slowing us down!" Grover wimpered.

"Push the gas!" Annabeth said.

"I am! I'm going as fast as this car can!" Reyna snapped.

"Well go faster!" Leo said.

"I-can't!" Reyna said, gritting her teeth.

"Oh my gods, lets just get out and run, then!" Leo said.

"No! That will only make us slower!" Annabeth said.

"We're going even slower now," Grover said.

"We know!" Reyna and Annabeth said at the same time.

"Woah!" they all said as the car suddenly lurched forward at top speed, almost flinging them off the mountain.

"Slow down!" Leo screamed. Reyna slammed on the brakes.

_Thump!_

"OW!" Leo yelled as he flew foward and hit his face on the windshield.

"Thats what you get for not wearing your seatbelt," Annabeth said smugly. Grover and Reyna cracked up.

"Hey! We have a demigod to save, remember!" Leo reminded them, annoyed.

"AHHHHH!" came a yell at the top of the mountain.

"Percy!" Annabeth and Grover screamed.

All of them hopped out of the car and ran at full speed up the mountain.

(Chapter 3)

They made it, and Annabeth shivered. "Bad memories here," she said.

Atlas was no where to be seen. But, about twenty feet away, with gray hair, his body bent so that they couldn't see his face, was a half-blood.

"We have to save him!" Grover said.

Annabeth, Leo, Reyna and Grover ran to his side. "Percy, are you okay?" Reyna asked.

No answer.

"Uh, he's not dead, is he?" Leo asked.

Annabeth glared at him. "No, or Grover would be, too."

"What will we do? We can't free him, and no one can take his place. It's too risky," Reyna said.

Annabeth inhaled. "I'll have to. You lead Atlas back here, and try and trick him to take the sky, like Artemis did."

"What? No! I'll do it. I can hold out longer. I'm not important, anyways. You three go, get Percy out of here," Leo said.

"No, I'll do it," Reyna injected.

"No, me! It's easier. I won't die, I'll be reincarnated as a plant," Grover said.

"No! Will you guys cut it out? I'm going to take it. You get Percy out," Annabeth said.

"Yes, little heroes! Let her die too," came a voice. They turned and saw Atlas strolling towards them.

"You!" Reyna drew her sword, Grover his reed pipes and Annabeth her knife while Leo pulled a hammer out of his belt.

Atlas laughed coldly. "You think you can stop me, demigods? I have once again been freed, and I will cause destruction to the world and Olympus! Do not worry about trying to save the boy. No matter what you do, he will die."

Annabeth looked at Percy sadly. Or . . . Percy's body.

_No!_ Annabeth shouted in her head. He's not dead. He's not.

"Go to Tartarus," Leo spat.

"I will rule the world!" Atlas bellowed.

"Oh, _shut up_, you," Reyna snapped. "You are like, the worst villian ever."

"WHAT?" Atlas shouted. "WHAT did you say to me, girl?"

"Shut up," Reyna repeated.

But before Atlas could say anything, while Reyna's, Grover's and Leo's backs were turned, Annabeth shifted beside Percy and pushed him with her shoulder, knocking him down and getting on one knee. Her teeth gritted.

You did it once, you can do it again, she told herself. For Percy.

Her mind went blank, her palms and forehead sweated. Her vision tinted red, but she forced herself to focus.

"Well well! It looks like we have another volenteer for death!" Atlas said.

They looked back. "Annabeth, no!" Grover shouted.

"I had to," Annabeth panted. "You get Percy out."

"No! Were not leaving you," Reyna said.

"Get out!" Annabeth repeated.

"No! We can take him," Leo said, taking a hammer out of his magical tool belt.

"Yeah. You did it once," Grover said.

"But-but we had Artemis. She's a goddess. There's no way we can when without a god's help this time," Annabeth choked.

"And help you shall have, my daughter," came a voice.

They turned, Annabeth barely twisting her head, and couldn't believe what they saw.

Athena and Poseidon were glaring at Atlas, ready for battle.

"Mom?" Annabeth gasped.

"Atlas, you will take your burden from my daughter or face the wrath of the gods," Athena said coldly.

"Never!" Atlas bellowed, "I will defeat both of you and take down Olympus and the Olympians!"

"Then you have brought this amongst yourself," Poseidon said.

He raised his trident, the tips glowing green, and Athena raised her sword.

"Look away," Athena said. They turned their heads, Grover shielding an unconsious Percy with his body, and there was a bright light. Atlas snarled.

"Noooo! I will have revenge!" they heard him say.

Bam! Annabeth felt something heavy shove into her, and she let herself be pushed out of the way.

"NOOOOO!"

The light faded, and Posiedon and Athena were standing in the same spot, but Atlas was no longer free.

"No! curse you!" Atlas wailed.

Annabeth got unsteadily to her feet and fell again. Instead, she crawled over to Grover and Percy, momentarily forgetting the two gods at the enterance of the cave.

"Percy?" she said, shaking his shoulder. He didn't move.

"Nectar and Ambrosia?" Leo suggested.

They fed him some, and the only thing it did was make his face more alive and a black tint to his hair again, but nothing else.

Annabeth put her ear to his chest. He was breathing slowly, but what scared her the most was his barely beating heart. "Percy?" she said again, "Please. Don't you do this. Don't you leave me."

"Annabeth," Reyna said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. Your going to knock his head off his shoulders."

She looked down, realized she was shaking at his shoulder roughly, then let go.

Not wanting to let them - especially her mother - see her cry, she put her head on his chest and sobbed.

Grover's breathing was getting labored. "N-need t-to rest a moment," he panted. He lay beside Percy.

"Oh gods, Grover, not you too," Leo said.

"It's - me and Percy, we have a link. I'm dying, too," Grover panted, gasping for air.

They didn't respond, they just sat with Grover and Percy, waiting.

Reyna was crying silently, and Leo was looking away so no one could see the tears in his eyes.

Just like my mother, he thought. He unconciously tapped a message on his leg: _goodbye_.

Annabeth felt a hand on her shoulder and a familiar voice say, "It will all be over soon."

"How long now, Nico?" Annabeth asked miserably. Nico had misty eyes. "Not long. Percy's life is fading, fast. Then Grover will pass, too."

"At least he'll be reincarnated as dirt," Annabeth said sadly.

Nico nodded. "Yeah. He was the bravest satyr we've ever had. And the toughest."

Reyna, Leo and Annabeth nodded in agreement.

Nico suddenly shuddered, and he was pale. The tears fell from his eyes. "Oh, gods. Oh gods, their g-gone." he dropped to his knees.

Annabeth no longer heard or felt Percy's heartbeat and breathing. Grover's mouth was hanging ajar, his eyelids half closed.

Reyna and Leo clung to each other, Reyna crying loudly into Leo's shoulder.

Reyna, Annabeth, Nico and Leo felt Poseidon and Athena join them.

Poseidon put a hand on his son's forehead and muttered a prayer in Ancient Greek. Athena did the same for Grover, and Grover's body dissolved, turning into soil, to be buried into a better life into the wild.

Poseidon had tears running down his cheeks, mourning for his favorite son.

"I'm sorry to have wanted to destroy him," Athena muttered to him.

Poseidon nodded, beyond listening at this point.

"Wait a moment, brother," said a voice. Everyone turned, and the Lord of the dead himself was strolling towards them.

"Wait. He shall not die," Hades said.

"Dad . . . you - I thought you weren't aloud to bring people back from the dead," Nico said.

Hades glared at his son. "I'm not. I meant, the curse of Achilles protects him."

Annabeth gasped quietly. "But, if he's invincible, why did he die?"

Hades studied her before answering. "How am I supposed to know? Ask Achilles. The curse protects him. In just a few moments, he'll awake as good as new, and he'll be a pest to the gods again."

"Father!" Nico objected.

"What happened to me?" gasped a voice, and they looked down to see Percy, looking young and healthy again with a strong face and black hair, all the gray gone, sitting up.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, and flung herself at him, hugging him tightly and kissing him, not even bothering to hide it from Athena.

"Annabeth? Wha-what happened? Where's Atlas?"

"I am here, you fool! Let me out so that I can destroy all of you!" Atlas screamed at them. He looked at Leo. "You, help me. I know what you can do. Free me, and the world will be yours! You can have anything you want. Even your mother."

Leo stared at him, shocked.

"Think about it," Atlas said. "You're alone. But you can have your mother back at your side . . ."

Leo shook his head. "You're not fooling me. I have friends. I'm _not _alone."

"You're a fool, boy," Atlas spat.

Reyna squeezed Leo's hand, and Annabeth squeezed his other hand.

"Oh, he is so annoying," Grover said with a sigh.

"Grover!" Leo, Nico and Annabeth cried, and hugged him.

"Well, now that this little drama is over, I will be going. Goodbye, Percy Jackson. I wish you luck, and may the gods be with you. Though some would not like to be," Hades said, and vanished in a black cloud of darkness.

"We must be leaving as well," Athena said, her and Poseidon standing.

"Dad-" Percy gasped out.

Poseidon smiled faintly at his favorite son.

"Not to worry, my boy. I'm sure when the time comes you will do your part fine."

"But - the prophecy - you have to convince Zeus - the gods and the demigods need to come together, or we wont win."

Poseidon looked grim. "I know, my son. Athena and myself have tried to convince him, but he wont listen to reason. Hera wont stop yelling at him. Aphrodite and Hephaestus are on our side as well, trying to convince him."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the mention of her least favorite goddess, and Percy squeezed her gently. Annabeth clung to him.

"Mother," she said, looking up at Athena, "I know you don't like him, but I do. I _love_ him. If you can't except that-"

"I except it, my daughter," Athena said. "I do not approve, but I accept it."

Annabeth looked sheepishly at Poseidon, and he raised his hands. "I'm fine with it, as long as my son is happy."

"I'm happy," Percy murmured in Annabeth's hair, to low for anyone but her to hear.

"We must be going. Close your eyes, my heroes," Athena said, and they all did.

Their was a flash of light, and Athena and Poseidon were gone.

"Time to go home," Grover muttered.

"Not quite," Annabeth said. She stood up, pulling Percy with her. His knees were a little wobbly, but otherwise okay.

"We still have a job to do with the Romans."

Nico groaned. "Do I have to go?"

"Yes, Nico. We need _all_ the Greek demigods."

"I was afraid of that," Nico muttered, standing. Leo and Reyna did, too.

"Wait-what about the prophecy?" Leo blurted.

"What about-oh, yeah!" Annabeth suddenly gasped. "'_The evil one will rise, the whole world will burn.' _We forgot about that."

"No, it came true," Reyna said. Everyone turned to look at her.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

"I figured it out - it _meant,_ if Atlas were to rise and not be retrapped under his old burden, _then _it would come true. But he didn't, so it didn't come true."

Annabeth gasped. "That's never happened with a prophecy before."

"Things are changing everywhere," Percy agreed.

"Then we have to be ready for it," Leo said, and the six of them walked out into the blinding sun.

"Annabeth?" Percy said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I love you too."

***So, did you like? Told you it was cheezy. ;) Anyway, please review! But no flames. Awakened will be coming shortly, maybe on Friday. It depends if I am busy or not. Thanks for reading! Ttfn!***


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